Posted: 10/15/04

Baylor engineers seek appropriate
technology for Third World

By Judy Long

Baylor University

WACO–Two-thirds of the world's people focus most of their energy on surviving until the end of the day. But some Baylor University engineering students and faculty want to help change that by developing and encouraging the use of appropriate technology in developing countries.

Walter Bradley, distinguished professor of engineering, has led in creating an interdisciplinary center at Baylor for appropriate technologies.

“In many underdeveloped parts of the world, people have neither the resources nor the infrastructure to utilize technology from the developed world. We propose to help them by developing technology that is appropriate to their local needs and resources,” Bradley said.

Bradley envisions employing resources from a wide spectrum of disciplines–engineering, computer science, chemistry, biology, geology, environmental sciences and business, as well as cultural anthropology and entrepreneurship–to improve life in developing countries.

The concept of helping Third World countries identify and develop appropriate technology is gaining enthusiasm among Baylor students.

Two engineering students–sophomore Leah Richter from Corpus Christi and junior Lindsay Mack from Newport, Ark.–recently founded Engineers With a Mission, a student organization aiming to impact developing countries.

Richter and Mack, along with faculty sponsor Brian Thomas, a member of Highland Baptist Church in Waco, tentatively are planning the organization's first project next summer in Papua New Guinea.

Richter looked at other mission organizations on campus, but she wanted to participate in a group where she could use what she was learning in the classroom in a missions setting. She also checked out engineering organizations on other campuses but couldn't find the group she wanted.

“We also looked into several different organizations that already did engineering work in developing countries, but none were faith-based. One even had a clause saying you couldn't go in their name with a religious purpose,” Richter said.

“I know engineering is my calling from God. It's what I'm supposed to do, and I wanted to find a way to start using it for ministry and mission work.”

Her quest was satisfied when Thomas, a lecturer in electrical engineering, brought together several students with a similar interest.

“Talking to students, I saw their interest in an organization that practiced engineering mission work, so we got together and formed this group,” Thomas said.

Thomas was among 22 Baylor professors who traveled to northern Iraq last December to conduct education seminars for the faculty at Dohuk University. Seeing the need in an economically depressed country ignited his desire to help.

“The trip to Iraq planted a seed for me. Seeing a non-western culture spurred me to do more.”

Thomas said he is motivated to see a change, not just in the developing country, but also in his students.

“We've adopted a motto for the club: When you've done it unto the least of these, you've done it unto me,” Thomas said, referring to Jesus' teaching in Matthew 25.

“I hope, while serving people in developing countries, demonstrating God's love in a tangible expression, to transform the lives of the students, so they will see their careers as an option for service. We're cultivating in them skills to be used to satisfy a calling and empower them for a life of service, not just to make money. If we can alter their perspective by just 10 degrees, it will make a big difference over the period of their careers.”

The proposed project in Papua New Guinea came about through John Pumwa, a visiting professor at Baylor. Pumwa, deputy head of the department of mechanical engineering at Papua New Guinea University of Technology, is developing an alternative fuel plan that converts his country's abundant coconuts into biodiesel fuel to meet a critical energy need.

Pumwa, who completed doctoral work in mechanical engineering at Texas A&M University in 1997, is the son of early converts of Papua New Guinea's first Baptist missionaries.

He landed at Baylor for his sabbatical year almost by accident. While looking for a school where he could conduct his research, he came across Baylor's website and saw Bradley's name in the engineering department. It turned out to be the same Walter Bradley from whom he had taken classes at Texas A&M.

When he contacted Bradley, they agreed Pumwa's sabbatical leave provided a unique opportunity for them to work together on a project in appropriate technology for Papua New Guinea and establish a long-term relationship with Baylor and his university.

While Pumwa explores ways to process coconut oil into biodiesel fuel, he would like an economist to conduct a macro-economic analysis in Papua New Guinea to be sure his plan is affordable.

Pumwa is recommending an agreement between the Papua New Guinea University of Technology and Baylor to train Papua New Guineans in engineering, business, economics and other disciplines so they can take their skills home to improve their country.

Because Papua New Guinea has a mountainous landscape, isolated people groups lack access to electricity, roads or a good source of fuel.

“But they do have a lot of rain, so if they harness the falling water, they could use it in small-scale hydroelectric generation. A micro-hydroelectric generator–a really small device about the size of a dishwasher–would produce a reliable source of electricity for them,” Thomas said.

Bradley was praying for direction on how to get started in the appropriate technology area when Pumwa called him, and he sees the Papua New Guinea prospect as a providential opportunity for Baylor.

He interprets the numerous biblical commands to serve the poor as a call to action for engineers and scientists who have knowledge that can help the developing world.

“As a Christian university, Baylor is uniquely positioned to respond to the call to serve the world's poorest. We hope to obtain funding from the United Nations development program eventually, but the work has to begin with funds from private sources at Baylor and from other concerned Christians,” Bradley said.

Posted: 10/15/04

Straining muscles baptizing
no hardship for Daisetta pastor

By George Henson

Staff Writer

DAISETTA–Kenny Rawls' ailment is the kind some Baptist preachers would boast about having. He strained muscles baptizing so many people.

In fact, he has baptized more than 10 percent of Daisetta's population in less than a year–118 people in a town of 1,100.

When Rawls first came to fill the vacant pulpit at First Baptist Church of Daisetta two years ago, his family of five comprised one-third of the worshippers. By the time the church called him as pastor about five months later, attendance had grown to just under 40.

“But they still had the faith to call a full-time pastor, not knowing if they could pay one,” he recalled.

And Rawls had enough faith to accept the call to his first pastorate, even though he knew his family would have to make a significant change in their lifestyle.

“We didn't really have a game plan other than to love the people and pray for God's guidance,” he said.

While the church was on a gradual growth trend, baptizing 17 in 2003, its real turn-around came when it adopted the FAITH evangelism strategy last January. At a kickoff event for FAITH training, Rawls expected a couple of people to enlist immediately. Instead, 40 people signed up. Thirty completed the training and began to share their faith in the community.

FAITH uses Sunday school as an organizational tool for evangelistic outreach.

“It was overwhelming. That was a major turning point for our church. When people catch the vision of what God is doing, look out,” Rawls said.

The FAITH teams worked so well, 45 people had been baptized by the end of August.

In September, the Heaven's Gate and Hell's Flames evangelistic drama team came to Daisetta. While First Baptist Church had grown to an attendance of about 120, the congregation still was smaller than most of the churches where the drama is performed.

“It cost us about $3,800 to bring them here, and we spent probably another $1,500 on advertising. That's a lot for our little church. It's also something where you could get a pastor fired,” he said, chuckling. “It was a risk.”

It seemed even riskier when Rawls talked to other pastors who had invited the production to their churches. They told him the event sparked a large number of decisions, but few lasting commitments.

But Rawls had seen the Heaven's Gate production while he was singles minister at Calvary Baptist Church in Beaumont years before, and he thought it might be what Daisetta needed.

“Our FAITH teams had been out on the streets and had met a lot of people who just wouldn't be reached without something like this,” he said.

During the four-day production, 1,053 people came to the church, and 253 made professions of faith in Jesus Christ and 90 rededicated their lives.

“And what's neat is that they came back,” Rawls said. The Sunday following the dramatic event, members and guests packed the church's sanctuary. When pews filled, ushers brought in extra chairs, and people stood along the walls until 308 people made their way in.

Part of the reason so many came back to the church on Sunday may have been an innovation First Baptist used in conjunction with the dramatic production.

Rawls said 83 people made professions of faith in Christ the first night of the drama, and many made inquiries about baptism.

The church's baptistery was used in the production, so it was unavailable for baptisms. But after the pastor mentioned the situation to a church member, the layman arranged for a portable swimming pool to be on the church lawn a few hours later. The local fire department sent a pumper truck to fill the 5,000-gallon pool in time for services the second night. Some people saw the pool being filled and were baptized before the second service began.

Any teenagers baptized had to have permission from a parent on the premises or in writing. “We made sure all of these people knew what they were doing. We didn't leave out the stops of wanting to do this the proper way,” Rawls said.

He was proud of the people who showed up that night, not expecting to be baptized but did so in whatever they happened to be wearing. One woman was baptized in her business suit.

“How much courage does it take to get into the water in street clothes? That's bold,” he said.

While Heaven's Gate generally is aimed at a teenage audience, in Daisetta most of the people who made professions of faith were adults, including an 80-year-old grandfather.

“We were trying to get them to take their commitment to Christ one step further,” Rawls said. “Stepping into that pool one at a time and confessing Jesus as Lord was a little different than making a mass rush to the altar and then disappearing out the door a few minutes later. Maybe this made it a little more real.”

The additions have excited the congregation, he said. The hard part has been to expand the Sunday school leadership enough to accommodate all the new arrivals.

Space also presents a problem. Classes now meet in different corners of the sanctuary and in the pastor's office. But the congregation is too excited to mind any inconvenience.

“They're overjoyed. This is so far past my ability or any of our abilities. This is simply God,” Rawls said. “I can't even get my teeth around that we've baptized 118.”

The church is even revisiting plans to build a family life center as a place for youth to congregate. Twenty-three years ago, the church considered it and decided it was too expensive. New excitement has brought the idea again to the forefront.

The church's sign in its front lawn sums up Rawls' feeling about everything that is happening in the church that held only a few more than a dozen people not long ago. It simply says, "WOW!"

Posted: 10/15/04

Dallas Baptists work with Habitat to
breathe new life into neighborhood

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

DALLAS–After getting their feet wet with an earlier Habitat for Humanity effort in South Dallas, Texas Baptists are getting their hands dirty as they pull out hammers and nails and go to work on a second project to help revitalize part of a community.

Dallas Baptists have come together to build and renovate homes as part of a Habitat for Humanity effort to reinvigorate an Oak Cliff neighborhood.

Area Baptists provided meals for volunteer builders working on a Habitat project in the same community earlier this year.

Texas Baptists are involved in building eight of the 11 homes volunteers are constructing. The Baptist General Convention of Texas Missions Equipping Center and City Core Initiative have partnered with Dallas Baptist Association and the Oak Cliff Network to sponsor one of the homes. Wilshire Baptist Church, Cliff Temple Baptist Church and Park Cities Baptist Church also are sponsoring building projects.

Pastor Willie Smith of Bible Way Baptist Church in Dallas and Pastor Calvin Jackson of True Believers Baptist Church in Dallas participate in a Habitat for Humanity project.

True Believers Missionary Baptist Church, Bible Way Baptist Church, Faithway Fellowship Baptist Church, Miracle Temple Missionary Baptist Church, New Covenant Baptist Church, New Creation Bible Church and Cornerstone Baptist Church have partnered with other Christian congregations on three houses.

Texas Baptists are renovating homes in the area as well. BGCT Church Missions and Evangelism Section staff members spent a day mowing grass, painting and maintaining several homes and anticipate more work days in the future.

The construction has created excitement in the community, said Willie Smith, pastor of Bible Way Baptist Church. Residents are looking forward to new neighbors who will move into the homes.

The Oak Cliff Network hopes to build on that energy, Smith said. Churches are sponsoring a communitywide revival this month. Smith wants to start a neighborhood crime watch group and community association as well. Baptist volunteers are pleased to be part of an effort to improve their surroundings, he said.

“It means a whole lot,” the pastor said. “We feel like we're contributing to our community firsthand.”

Gerald Davis, consultant for the BGCT Missions Equipping Center, said this effort is helping congregations connect with the families who will move into the homes. The cooperation also promotes an image of the church as a group of caring, helping people.

Residents will be able to point to new and renovated homes as signs of Christian love, Davis said. They will see tangible evidence of God's work.

“I would like to see what can happen when a group of people come together with a prayer to see God's presence clearly,” he said. “God's glory will be present in the transformation of this community.”

It is important that BGCT staff members are involved in this project as well, Davis continued. Ventures to change a community for the better in Christ's name connect with the BGCT's new mission statement, which calls on the convention to help churches transform lives.

“It's a divine opportunity that God has placed before us,” he stressed.

Posted: 10/15/04

House vote on marriage amendment falls short of two-thirds

By Robert Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (ABP)–The U.S. House of Representatives has followed the Senate's lead, defeating a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban marriage–and, arguably, marriage-like benefits–for same-sex couples.

A House version of the Federal Marriage Amendment proposal failed to receive the necessary two-thirds vote for passage, though it did receive a majority of 227 to 186. Twenty-seven Republicans joined most Democrats in voting against the amendment, while 36 Demo-crats crossed the aisle to vote in favor of it.

A similar proposal failed a procedural vote in the Senate in July, when supporters of the marriage ban failed to muster a simple majority.

Many observers had predicted the House vote would fail, and the earlier Senate failure led many Democrats to accuse Republicans of playing election-year politics with the bill. Even if it had passed the House, its defeat in the Senate means the amendment almost certainly would have gone nowhere until next year.

Many opponents of the proposal said it was designed to make election-year life difficult for moderate Democrats who oppose the amendment on principle. Prominent Religious-Right organizations have announced they will give heavy weight to House members' votes on the amendment when compiling election-year “scorecards” to hand out in churches.

But several recent court decisions on gay-rights issues forced the House leadership's hand, some Republicans argued.

“Many of us in the House would prefer not to have this debate,” said House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas). “The question of the future of marriage in this country has been forced on us by activist judges, legislating from the bench.”

DeLay referred specifically to a 2003 decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court that legalized same-sex marriage in that state. As a result, the commonwealth became the first in the United States to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

DeLay and other opponents of same-sex marriage argued that federal lawsuits ultimately would lead to the invalidation of laws banning same-sex marriage in other states–meaning a federal constitutional amendment is the only way to prevent the legalization of gay marriage nationwide.

The amendment's opponents, however, cited the arguments of many legal scholars who said that, if enacted, the amendment could ban not only marriage, but civil unions and other marriage-like legal relationships designed to protect gay couples and their children.

The amendment, as proposed, reads: “Marriage in the United States shall consist solely of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution, nor the constitution of any state, shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman.”

Gay-rights and civil-libertarian groups said the final vote vindicated their work against the amendment.

“President Bush and the Republican leadership looked down the barrel of the biggest defeat for anti-gay extremists ever,” said Laura Murphy, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Washington office. “They played fast and loose with the Constitution in a cheap election-year ploy, and they lost. Like the Senate did before, the House today said that discrimination has no place in the Constitution.”

But the proposal's supporters vowed to bring it up again in the next Congress. “This is only the beginning, I'm telling you, because this body will protect marriage,” DeLay said, to rare applause from the House visitors' gallery. “We will take it from here, and we will come back, and we will come back, and we will never give up.”

Posted: 10/15/04

Filipino church teaches members to adopt missional lifestyle

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

HOUSTON–Actively involved Christians may spend seven hours a week inside church walls. That leaves 161 hours a week they aren't in church.

Shouldn't believers live out their faith around-the-clock, wherever they are?

Howard Dagohoy, pastor of First Philippine Baptist Church in Houston, is answering the question with a firm “yes” by equipping members to share the gospel through day-to-day words and deeds.

He is one of a growing numbr of church leaders who are encouraging Christians to live “missionally”–intentionally following God's purpose to share the gospel and make disciples through everyday action.

Living missionally is “being a missionary where you are,” Dagohoy said. “You don't have to go far. You are a missionary at the workplace, at school–wherever you are.”

That takes different forms in different congregations, said Fred Ater, consultant for the Baptist General Convention of Texas Missional Church Center. One congregation may help teachers understand what they can and cannot say about their faith in school. Another may help individuals turn their hobbies into ministries.

At Higher Dimension Church in Houston, members are involved in discipleship classes, where their faith becomes more mature. Members are encouraged to read the entire Bible at least once a year. Church leaders are preparing members to impact their neighborhoods by strengthening their faith and encouraging them to be bold in a community with drugs and prostitution, said Olus Holder, the church's overseer of pastoral care.

“It's going really well,” Holder said. “The people are thirsty for the word of God.”

Leaders admit it is difficult to define a missional church, because churches are continuously evolving and honing their work on the missional journey, but it is about mirroring the mission heart of God.

“When the church as a whole moves to the heartbeat of God, they will see not only the grace God gives, but the responsibility,” Ater said.

As church members begin seeing the world they live in as a mission field, attitudes and cultures change, said Milfred Minatrea, director of the Missional Church Center.

The traditional marks of an active Christian lifestyle appear, he added.

Believers start to recognize the non-Christian people around them and naturally share the gospel with them, Minatrea explained. Christians are obedient to the Scriptures, which they hold in high esteem.

With that, the culture of churches changes, he continued. Rather than focusing on bringing people in, congregations look to release people into areas where they can have the most impact for Christ. They start churches. Members function as staff. They strengthen other Christian efforts.

“The missional church is not a program or process,” said Minatrea, author of “Shaped By God's Heart.”

“It is a paradigm. It is another way to see what the church is to be.”

Missional churches focus on penetrating communities, not “staying afloat” with adequate membership to support themselves, Ater said. Each member is a missionary that can help change the world for God. A global vision includes local ministry. Laypeople have the greatest impact, not church staff members.

“I think we are at a hinge moment in history,” Minatrea said. “Very few generations live at the hinges. I'm convinced we are moving from the era of the ordained to the era of the ordinary.”

Posted: 10/15/04

Convention presidents address African-American preachers

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

WACO–Attitude problems, personal pain and arrogance in the pulpit present obstacles to effective preaching, presidents of three predominantly African-American conventions told a conference at Baylor University's Truett Theological Seminary.

Presidents Stephen Thurston of the National Baptist Convention of America, Inc., Melvin Von Wade of the National Missionary Baptist Convention of America and Major Jemison of the Progressive National Baptist Convention headlined the seminary's inaugural African-American preaching conference in Waco.

“There are individuals who have the gift (of preaching) but don't have the right attitude,” said Thurston, pastor of New Covenant Missionary Baptist Church in Chicago. “The gift becomes fruitless because of the lack of an adequate attitude.”

Thurston compared the attitudes three biblical characters showed toward Christ: King Herod, who wanted Jesus killed; the nameless innkeeper, who allowed Mary and Joseph to spend the night in his stable; and Simeon, who responded with thanksgiving when Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the Jerusalem temple for circumcision.

Herod–who instructed the Magi to tell him the location of the Christ-child, falsely claiming he wanted to worship the Messiah–demonstrated a hostile attitude born out of insecurity.

“If there is a harboring of hostility within us, it is because of our own insecurity,” Thurston said, challenging preachers to “bring lives and lips together” into a consistent testimony.

The innkeeper, on the other hand, demonstrated an indifferent attitude. While he provided some shelter in the stable for Mary and Joseph, he could have done better for a pregnant woman who was about to deliver a baby, Thurston insisted.

“Many of us bring this attitude of indifference into the pulpit,” he said. “We're right down the middle–not for anything, not really against anything. … Like that unnamed innkeeper, we are indifferent. We compromise the word of God with the sins of men, so we will not declare the iniquities that are present and real.”

In contrast to Herod's wrong attitude and the innkeeper's bad attitude, Simeon demonstrated a right attitude, he noted. Luke's Gospel says Simeon was “in the Spirit,” and that is where preachers find the power to preach with authority, Thurston said.

Some pastors find it hard to preach with power and minister effectively because they are trapped in a “cul-de-sac of despair,” said Wade, pastor of Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles.

“Somebody here is in an avalanche of agony, a conglomeration of calamity, a litany of losses, a maze of misery, a plethora of problems, a series of sufferings,” he said. “Somebody here has been seized and taken into custody by trouble.”

Drawing his text from Psalm 116, Wade described the depression of a person who feels as if he is being pursued relentlessly like a hunted prey or as if the narrow walls of a grave are closing in on him.

“The good news is that whenever you are trapped, you don't have to go to pieces if you're a child of God,” he said. “When trouble comes, you have a powerful option more potent than your predicament, and that is the privilege of prayer.”

Willingness to suffer and serve are essential to effective ministry, said Jemison, pastor of St. John Missionary Baptist Church of Oklahoma City.

“When suffering comes, it can be the best time of your ministry,” he said. “It is there God gives you history to deal with the present realities of your tomorrows.”

Citing the example of the martyr Stephen in the New Testament book of Acts, Jemison urged the ministers to be suffering servants rather than allowing hunger for prestige, power and position to eat away like termites at their ministry.

“We are just ordinary people whom God has elevated to render some extraordinary service to those who are the least, the last and the left out,” he said.

Featured speaker Bill Lawson, founding pastor of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church in Houston, sounded a similar note at a banquet that kicked off the three-day conference.

“There has been a message sent down from heaven, and that message needs to get to every human being on earth,” he said. “Preaching is the central purpose for which the church has been created. But I said preaching, not preachers. … God builds his church on the preached word, not on the preacher.”

Michael Evans, director of African-American ministries with the Baptist General Convention of Texas; Joseph Parker, pastor of David Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in Austin; and noted Baptist pulpiteer Joel Gregory of Fort Worth served as the steering committee for the preaching conference, which organizers intend to be an annual event.

Posted: 10/15/04

BaptistWay Bible Series for Oct. 24

'Good grief' produces repentance, not regret

2 Corinthians 7:5-16

By Todd Still

Truett Seminary, Waco

We have all said and done things and then had second thoughts. So did the Apostle Paul. Sometimes, upon further reflection, we conclude we said or did the wrong thing. Other times, we gaze in life's rear-view mirror and determine we said or did the right thing after all.

This is the way Paul felt about the so-called “tearful epistle” he had written to the Corinthians. Although he had been sorry he had written the letter because it had grieved the congregation, their grief turned out to be profitable (2 Corinthians 7:8). That the church not only mourned over but also repented of its sin turned Paul's regret into rejoicing (v. 9). The assembly's “good grief” brought Paul no small amount of relief.

Our text for this week's lesson picks up where Paul left off in 2:13. After a sustained and substantive aside, if 2:13-7:4 may be accurately described as such, Paul continues in 7:5-16 to inform the Corinthians of what happened to him after he left Troas and moved on to Macedonia. Although the apostle had ministry opportunities in Troas, Titus' delay in returning to Paul produced an anxiety in Paul that precluded him from walking through open ministerial doors (2:12-13).

Such anxiety on the part of the apostle should disabuse us of the notion that Paul was a saint cast in cold marble. In an effort to reconnect with his gentile coworker Titus, Paul departed Troas for Macedonia. Titus apparently was the courier of the now-lost letter that Paul wrote to the Corinthians “out of much distress and anguish of heart.”

Despite a change in location, Paul continued to experience affliction. Disputes from without and fears from within kept the apostle from finding rest (v. 5). The apostle's acute anxiety was generated and sustained by his concern for his ministerial colleague, the spiritual health of the Corinthian assembly and his desire for a restored relationship with them. For Paul to be at peace, Titus would need to come to him in Macedonia with a positive report from Corinth.

In verse 6, Paul informs the Corinthians that was precisely what happened. In the midst of his affliction, God comforted Paul through the arrival of Titus. Furthermore, that the Corinthians had comforted Titus and had told him of their ongoing commitment to Paul and his ministry prompted the apostle to rejoice even more (v. 7).

At his arrival, Titus informed Paul his now-lost letter had caused the Corinthians grief, albeit temporarily. It was not their grief that brought Paul relief and prompted him to rejoice, but the repentance that resulted from their grief.

In verse 9, Paul depicts the grief that led to their repentance as “grief according to God.” Moreover, the apostle regards “godly grief” as gain. It is a “good grief” because it produces repentance and not regret. If “grief according to God brings about repentance which results in salvation,” “worldly grief brings about death” (v. 10).

In verse 11, Paul reflects further on the positive repercussions of “godly grief” upon the Corinthians. It produced within the fellowship a spiritual earnestness and enthusiasm. They demonstrated a desire to take sin seriously and to repair ruptured relationships with one another and the apostle. So much so that Paul declares, “At every point you have proved yourselves guiltless in the matter.” Although we would like to know more about the “matter” of which Paul speaks, the apostle does not want to grind an axe. In fact, Paul shows no more willingness to harp on their sin than God does on our confessed sin (1 John 1:9).

It is probable that Paul has in view in verse 11 the “matter” he mentioned earlier in the letter (vv. 5-11). Even so, the apostle insists in verse 12 he did not write his “tearful epistle” to the Corinthians in order to attack his detractor or to defend himself. Rather, he wrote so the church might be led to renew their commitment to him as their apostle before God (v. 12).

Paul reiterates here the comfort he has experienced from their having done so. He also underscores the joy he has derived from Titus' warm reception among and fond affection for the Corinthians (v. 13). Like a proud parent, Paul had boasted about the church to Titus. Like a concerned parent, Paul wondered if he had been overconfident (v. 14).

Titus' overwhelmingly positive field report from Corinth (v. 15) prompted Paul, in so many words, once again to display a picture of the congregation and to ask those gathered around him, “Have you seen my spiritual children in Corinth lately?” (v. 16). Perhaps those meant to admire the assembly's picture responded by saying, “Good grief, Paul, give it a break.” To which Paul could have said, “Grief truly can be good if it is godly grief. Have I told you about my spiritual children in Corinth lately?”

Discussion questions

Can you recall a time when “good grief” ultimately had a good result in your life?

Do believers have a responsibility to their spiritual children's growth?

Posted: 10/15/04

BaptistWay Bible Series for Oct. 31

Exercise financial generosity for sake of others

2 Corinthians 8:1-21

By Todd Still

Truett Seminary, Waco

Second Corinthians is laden with transitions. Yet another shift occurs in the epistle at 8:1. Fortunately, the apostle sticks with this particular topic two entire chapters. The subject Paul considers in 2 Corinthians 8-9 is what we call the Jerusalem Collection.

Although Paul refers to this offering for needy believers in the “holy city” elsewhere (1 Corinthians 16:1-4; Romans 15:25-32), this is the only place in his surviving letters where he ponders over and elaborates upon various aspects of the collection in any degree of detail. In this lesson, we will consider the apostle's instruction in 8:1-21; next week, we will focus our attention upon 9:6-15.

Having expressed his complete confidence in the Corinthians (7:16), Paul now is prepared to put his trust to a test in a most tangible way as he calls the congregation to contribute to the collection. The apostle already had instructed the church regarding this offering (1 Corinthians 16:1-4) and was eager to secure their support for what Paul considered to be an immensely important project. Paul thought this ministry not only would assist needy Jewish Christians in Jerusalem, but also would serve as a material sign of Gentile believers' spiritual indebtedness to the Jewish people (Romans 15:27).

The apostle begins by placing before the Corinthians the positive response of the Macedonian churches to the collection (vv. 1-5). Although Paul does not name the precise locales of the congregations in northern Greece to whom he refers, he probably at least has the Philippian and Thessalonian fellowships in view. Paul informs the Corinthians of the Macedonian Christians' generosity even in the face of adversity and poverty (v. 2). The apostle reports these churches gave voluntarily, sacrificially and enthusiastically to this ministry for the Jerusalem saints (vv. 3-4). Having been graced by God and having given themselves to God, Paul indicates these believers were eager to grace others through their giving (vv. 1, 5).

Encouraged by the Macedonians' liberality, Paul enlists Titus and two other now-anonymous “brothers” to ensure and secure the Corinthians' support (vv. 6, 16-24). The apostle wants to make certain the Corinthians' contributions come to fruition. He is anxious that their commitment to the collection will flag and they will fail “to put their money where their mouth is” (vv. 10-11). In an attempt to shore up their commitment, Paul not only appeals to the Macedonians, but he also enjoins the Corinthians to excel in giving to this need even as they excel in other areas of the Christian life and experience (v. 7).

Although it appears Paul is engaged in some “spiritual arm-twisting” here, his purpose for applying this gentle apostolic pressure should be recognized. He is not appealing to the Corinthians for his own selfish gain; on the contrary, he is urging them to exercise financial generosity for the good of other believers. By doing so, they will exhibit spiritual sincerity and charity (v. 8).

In the course of encouraging the Corinthians to demonstrate genuine love by giving ungrudgingly, Paul appeals to the example of Christ. In one of Paul's most poetic and profound passages, we read: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, for your sake he became poor, in order that you might become rich by his poverty” (v. 9). Paul's point is penetratingly clear–even as Christ has given on our behalf, Christians should give on his behalf.

By encouraging the Corinthians to contribute to the collection, Paul is not asking that they impoverish themselves. Neither is he, like some modern-day proponent of the “health and wealth gospel,” suggesting they should be unduly burdened so Jerusalem believers might live in lap of luxury. Rather, he is calling them to give out of their present abundance in response to a present need. Should the tables be turned, those on the giving end would appreciate being on the receiving end. Paul is advocating in these verses, then, fiscal as well as spiritual generosity so there might a fair balance and interdependence (vv. 12-14).

In promoting this perspective, Paul appeals to the Israelites' experience of gathering manna in the wilderness in keeping with the Lord's instructions (v. 15). Because they worked cooperatively and shared freely, those who gathered more than an omer had nothing left over, and those who gathered less than an omer had no lack (Exodus 16:16-17).

The apostle's instruction was a word on target not only for comparatively wealthy Corinthians but also for comparatively wealthy North American Christians. Honestly, most of us are more like the “rich fool” and “Lazarus” in Luke's parables than we are like Jesus. In general, we value getting over giving, hoarding over helping and stockpiling over sharing.

In rounding out this chapter, Paul tells the Corinthians precisely who he is sending their way to collect their offering for “the relief of the saints” (vv. 16-24). As he does so, he indicates why he is collecting this “grace” in the first place, namely, “for the glory of the Lord and to show our good will” (v. 19).

Paul also notes he has involved other persons in gathering and delivering the collection so he might safeguard himself against potential slanders from detractors (v. 20). The apostle's aim in carrying out his ministry was to do that which was right not only before the Lord, but also before humanity (v. 21). Let us pray this type of integrity and transparency will mark our lives and ministries.

Discussion question

If your giving isn't cheerful, should you keep your tithe?

Posted: 10/15/04

Baylor provost's speech sparks
debate over Baptist freedom

By Marv Knox

Editor

WACO–“Baptist freedom” and the doctrine called the priesthood of the believer have taken center stage in a debate over academic freedom and the future of Baylor University.

The issue surfaced in a speech Baylor Provost David Lyle Jeffrey delivered during Wheaton College's Scripture and the Disciplines Conference in Illinois late last spring.

Baylor faculty and alumni have circulated audio and printed copies of Jeffrey's 51-minute speech. Now they're arguing whether Jeffrey's opinion represents the traditional Texas Baptist–and Baylor–interpretation of the doctrine.

Jeffrey's opinion matters to Baylor because he is the university's chief academic officer. He and Baylor President Robert Sloan ultimately direct faculty selection and promotion, as well as classroom content.

Alarming biblical illiteracy

In his address, Jeffrey expressed alarm at biblical illiteracy and substandard orthodoxy, not only in secular culture, but also in conservative Christian churches and at Baylor.

“I am concerned that not only the wider culture, but increasingly the subculture we call the evangelical church has opinions on a book (the Bible) which, for practical intellectual purposes, it hasn't really read,” he acknowledged.

In an interview, Jeffrey stressed his audience was not Baylor but “a large group of academics in the traditional disciplines from a wide variety of religious colleges and universities in North America,” including Catholic and Jewish schools.

“My purpose was in no respect to constrain academic freedom at Baylor, or religious freedom either,” he said. “The religious liberty of institutions such as ours depends to some considerable degree upon our capacity to ground our common life in a … relationship to biblical texts and biblical principles.

“Without a vital conversation around such texts and a normative community life growing up from that conversation, the relatively anarchic pursuit of individual freedom can weaken community purpose to a point at which real community no longer functions–or perhaps even exists.”

Speaking at Wheaton of current scholars' lack of biblical knowledge, Jeffrey talked about “my university, where hiring practice has for decades been too little concerned with articulate faith.”

“Even among more faithful faculty, biblical literacy and theological competence is at a far lower ebb than might have been found a generation ago amongst rural Baptists and other evangelicals who never saw the inside of a college classroom,” he said.

Jeffrey blamed the decline on what he called “anarchic, postmodern advocacy–or radical subjectivism” in academia, noting it “drowns all music but its own.”

Calling for communal freedom

Addressing “the Bible and academic freedom,” Jeffrey advocated “communal freedom,” or the right of a university to set group standards, over against the individual freedom of professors.

In the postmodern academic realm, “the idea of communal freedom is seen as a threat, perhaps because it suggests the possibility of reciprocal accountability,” he said.

“In their attempt to elevate the individual over community, postmodern educators … have resisted ever more strongly the privilege of counterbalance–of communal freedom to speak collectively–especially for religious or dissenting communities to define a communal rather than merely individualistic right to First Amendment privilege.”

This is important because “Christian colleges and universities will soon need to defend their position with a much more coherently biblical reasoning than has typically been the case during the last century,” he warned.

But Christian universities have joined secular institutions in emphasizing individual freedom as opposed to the rights of the group, he charged.

“In most Christian churches, universities and colleges, the anarchic, subjectivist notion of freedom has been essentially institutionalized as if it also was a Christian norm,” he said.

Baptist freedom

To illustrate, he discussed “that much-celebrated 'distinctive,' as my co-religionists like to say, of 'Baptist freedom.'”

Jeffrey cited a newspaper article that quoted “one of my university's board members” as saying, “What Baptist freedom means to me is that as a Baptist I am free to interpret the Bible in any way I choose.”

“This kind of statement apparently thrills the soul of some Texans, but mine is not one of them,” he told the Wheaton audience. “As a radical extension of the doctrines of 'soul competency' and 'priesthood of the believer'–not of 'the believers'–it is a full logical equivalent of the postmodernist stance in literary and legal theory.”

And that will have dire consequences, he predicted.

“What such triumphant subjectivism quite naturally leads to, in practice, is neglect of the Bible altogether,” he said.

“In my literature classes at Baylor, I have found very few students who were not abysmally ignorant of the Bible, both narratively and conceptually. Though they think of themselves as 'biblical Christians,' they most evidently do not possess their book,” the Bible.

Academic freedom

The standoff between communal and individual freedom impacts universities today, Jeffrey said.

"The urgent issue now is the right–or not–of religious communities to hold to internal norms in terms of which some kinds of behavior, including certain kinds of advocacy and even some kinds of research, may be deemed inappropriate, deficient in moral virtue or a transgression of basic communally held notions of rectitude," he said. "Now there is no ideal of communal freedom which does not entail some order of constraint upon individual freedom."

Aided by some of his Baylor colleagues, Jeffrey has drafted “a retrospective Baptist mini-theology respecting academic freedom,” he reported.

“What we soon realized was that to argue from current Baptist articulations about freedom–essentially secularist in every presuppositional way–was to demonstrate that there was neither coherence nor commonality in the present edition of Baptist religious tradition.”

"For Baptists, 'academic freedom is not an idol to be worshipped,'" Jeffrey said, quoting from his document and citing British scholar Nigel Wright. "Because our freedom is experienced in community, there is continuous need for balancing the claims of institutional and individual freedom.

“As Baptists, we emphasize freedom, yet we expect a commitment to the common good. In community, none of us is absolutely autonomous, a 'law unto himself.' …

“When Jesus said, 'You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free,' he did not mean that truth would make you autonomous.”

In an interview, Jeffrey insisted “no one at my level or higher attempts to 'control … classroom content,'” citing Baylor policy. “Nor do I see the academic freedom of the university to chart and pursue its mission as 'over and against the individual freedom of professors.'”

Impact on Baylor

The issue for Baylor, as well as other religious schools, is “how they will form their consensus and, over time, adjust and reform consensus concerning that identity,” he added.

“For Baptists, the historic way we do that is through a conversation in which Scripture provides a normative base for reflection on a wide range of issues. That is why I take evidence of a diminished familiarity with the Bible to be for us in particular a significant cause for concern.”

Jeffrey stressed his individual theological views should not be reason for alarm to Baylor faculty and alumni who disagree with him.

“I have no intention of forcing these issues or any other views I have upon anyone else, let alone upon Baylor as a community,” he said.

“I was, in that paper, carrying out an argument into a national conversation and, of course, expect debate. A part of academic freedom is the expectation of dissenting views.”

Predictably, the “Baylor family” feels free to disagree regarding their assessment of Jeffrey's position.

A university regent opposed to Jeffrey lamented, “Baylor, as we know it, will be lost” if Jeffrey's view of Baptist freedom and priesthood prevails.

Conversely, a professor who supports Jeffrey countered that adversaries of President Sloan are using the priesthood debate as a wedge issue to convince constituents “Jeffrey doesn't understand Baptists.”

Building a 'straw man'

Kent Gilbreath, an economics professor, said Jeffrey's assertion that Baylor's hiring practices have been “too little concerned with articulate faith” is a “straw man that Jeffrey creates so he can attack it.”

“He creates a Baylor that does not exist, nor has it ever existed,” Gilbreath charged. “He creates a myth with virtually no historical knowledge or meaningful personal experience of life at Baylor.”

Gilbreath also finds fault with Jeffrey's use of “articulate faith,” noting: “That phrase goes to the heart of Jeffrey's overall problem as an administrator. He apparently believes he has been 'called' to define what constitutes an articulate faith. … His attempt to do so is one of the key factors in his contribution to the great divisions that have taken place at Baylor.”

Bill Thomas, an accounting lecturer and former chair of the accounting department, contended former Baylor administrations “generally permitted more latitude” in hiring faculty and staff who may not have affirmed the faith.

“The decision regarding whether to require persons to 'articulate their faith' centered around whether that was an important question to the department chair and the dean,” Thomas said.

“When it was important at that level, it was screened. When it was not important at that level, it tended not to be screened as closely. …

“Under the current administration, all of the new faculty members whom I have met are not only highly academically qualified, but also seem to have a more vocal spiritual commitment in general than those hired under previous administrations,” he said.

Not immune

Barry Harvey, associate professor of theology in the Honors College, cited a misreading of culture rather than “deliberate, intentional neglect or malfeasance” as cause for any erosion of Baylor's faith identity.

“There was for many years a good-faith assumption that there always would be a Baylor and that it would be what Baylor always had been­with its Christian identity, its Baptist identity left intact,” he said.

“Only in the last 10 years, research has illustrated the dynamics of society are very different. School after school–intentionally or not–has turned away or moved away from its Christian identity.”

And since Baylor reflects “changing American society,” it is not immune, Harvey added.

“I can tell from students. Biblical allusions that would have been familiar to their grandparents–whether or not they were church-going folks–are lost on students, even students who have been in church all their lives. That's true of younger faculty, too.”

Not learning from history

Bill Brackney, professor of religion specializing in Baptist studies and former chair of the religion department, said Jeffrey's warning about faculty embracing an anarchic, subjectivist notion of freedom is uninformed by the reality of mainstream Baptist history and life.

The irony is that what the provost describes has in fact been the case with fundamentalist Baptists, including the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada, a group with which Jeffrey is familiar, he added.

“Any person schooled in Baptist history and polity in the U.S. and Canada would know that Baptists always have recognized the historic tension which works between autonomy and interdependence, or between individualism and cooperation,” he said. “Both elements belong in the historic Baptist equation.”

Baylor “has reflected trends in society in this regard,” Harvey countered. “There's no intentional embrace, but it has become kind of a de facto cultural emphasis.”

He pointed to an “older faculty member” who “was not so much concerned about religious identity but wanted to preserve the 'Baylor culture.' He views faith as a privatistic matter, something polite people just don't talk about.”

Essence of Baptist faith

Gilbreath contended Jeffrey's remark about “anarchic, postmodern advocacy–or radical subjectivism” is “a simplistic view of individual freedom.”

“The word 'anarchic' is a pejorative term and suggests that those who hold that view are the modern equivalent of bomb-throwers,” he said.

“Subjective freedom is the essence of the Baptist faith, and the ultimate essence of the Baptist faith is the individual's freedom to choose whether or not to accept Christ as his or her personal Savior,” he said.

“Among Baptists more than any other faith that I am knowledgeable about, the decision about whether to accept Christ is absolutely not a collectively made decision. It is a personal decision, and it is a subjective decision.”

Any “anarchy” present at Baylor has its roots in an attempt by some at Baylor “to define for (faculty) what is a legitimate expression of their faith,” Gilbreath said.

Singular or plural priesthood

The professors expressed differing perspectives on Jeffrey's distinction between priesthood of the believer and priesthood of the believers.

Brackney and Harvey agreed the general idea predates Baptists, but not on the specifics of the terms.

Brackney pointed to the Lutheran and Reformed movements of the Reformation as the first champions of the “idea we call priesthood of the believer.”

"From the beginning, Baptists have affirmed what Luther and Calvin called the 'priesthood of all believers,'” Harvey said.

“As Protestants, we have no special class of priests. Any baptized believer can serve as priest to anyone else, whether inside or outside the church.”

Priesthood of the believer/believers was "not a piece of terminology as such before the 19th century," Brackney said.

“You will find Baptists talking about an antagonism to a professional priesthood in the 17th century, but you do not see 'priesthood of all believers' until Baptists in the South started talking about it in the late 19th century.”

Many Baptists “conflate” or confuse priesthood of the believer/believers with a couple of other doctrines–liberty of conscience and soul competency, Harvey explained. Those doctrines lead them to an individualistic interpretation of priesthood, which is incorrect.

Quoting the late pastor/theologian Carlyle Marney, he called the notion of a self-reliant individual “priest” a “gross perversion of the gospel.”

Striking a balance

Jeffrey's use of the terms is “a false issue,” Gilbreath insisted. “It leads you back toward a hierarchy in the ranking of views about what constitutes appropriate doctrine, which is what Protestantism is all about.

“Who is it exactly who holds the keys to the kingdom of God? Baptists have decided it is the individual, and certainly no hierarchy of priests holds the keys to the kingdom. Those who focus on the priesthood of believers and (formulating) an appropriate definition of doctrine would be much more comfortable in the Catholic tradition than in the Baptist tradition.”

Thomas stressed the doctrine implies a balance.

“I can trust the Holy Spirit to reveal to me through prayer and reading Scripture what is the path for my life,” he said. “I am not obligated to accept any other man's interpretation of the Bible, but I am obligated to be diligent about seeking and knowing the will of God.

“God will ultimately hold me accountable for the knowledge I have received and how I have applied it to my life. So, with that freedom also comes awesome responsibility.”

Jeffrey's call for “balancing the claims of institutional and individual freedom” is not unique to Baylor, Harvey and Thomas said.

“Baylor has every right to develop an institutional framework from which to apply the concept of academic freedom. If that includes boundaries, so be it,” Thomas said, noting other “notably religious schools” have similar policies.

“The concept of institutional right and responsibility to apply academic freedom within a framework that includes the boundaries of Scripture is one of the main factors that allows us to discriminate in hiring practices–favoring Baptists, evangelicals, practicing Catholics, Jews–as we do. It is not only our right, but our responsibility to do so.”

“I don't think it's a zero-sum game between Baylor's right to pursue its mission and freedom of individual professors to pursue their research,” Harvey added. Professors enjoy freedom to teach and conduct research, but the university can proscribe limits to the research it will fund, he explained.

Gilbreath likewise acknowledged a balance between freedoms. “We have this tremendous gift of being able to determine who we will allow to come and associate with us. We get to discriminate on the basis of religion, and we have done so throughout history. To me, that is institutional freedom. What other freedoms do we need beyond that?”

Individual freedom “allows us very wide limits,” he added.

Different evaluations

Harvey and Thomas expressed confidence in Jeffrey, while Gilbreath and Brackney shared concerns.

“Performance always is the test,” Harvey said. “If you look at Dr. Jeffrey's record in terms of hiring, he has a deep and abiding respect for academic freedom, for Baptists not signing creeds.”

Under Jeffrey's leadership, “I'm concerned about the drift at Baylor away from our Baptist roots,” Gilbreath said.

Jeffrey is “a brilliant man, accomplished scholar and a Christian exemplar,” Thomas added. “We are fortunate to have a person of his caliber as our provost.”

“The division at Baylor will go on until one camp defines (priesthood and academic freedom) to the satisfaction of everybody, or until one group pouts and goes away and says, 'That's not the way we see it,'” Brackney predicted.

“We are involved in a deep dynamic clarification of Baptist ideals on this campus. It matters a great deal to many good people.”

Posted: 10/15/04

Baptist scholars point to tension
between individualism and community life

By Marv Knox

Editor

Do Baptists affirm the priesthood of the believer or the priesthood of believers?

To outsiders, the question may seem as esoteric as “How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?”

But it's important at Baylor University these days. In a speech, Baylor Provost David Lyle Jeffrey came down on the side of believers–plural.

Supporters say he merely advocated the longstanding Protestant notion that Christians exist in community, not alone. Critics claim he traded away Baptist's birthright by diminishing their distinctive doctrine of freedom.

Historians and theologians say Baptists–particularly Texas Baptists–have championed the individualism implied by “believer.” But they also have affirmed the sense of responsibility “believers” suggests.

Paul Powell, dean of Baylor's Truett Theological Seminary, analyzed the basic concepts between both views.

“The priesthood of the believers–plural–is the idea that our interpretation of Scripture should take into account what the church has taught through the ages, such as through creeds and statements of faith,” Powell said. “Some people interpret this as implying that if there is a conflict between what the church has taught and what we believe, we should give deference to the teachings of the church and not to our individual interpretations.

“The priesthood of the believer–singular–is the idea each individual Christian is capable of reading and interpreting Scripture and no mediator other than Jesus Christ stands between the believer and God. Some people interpret this as implying each Christian individual may believe whatever he or she wants to.”

Both perspectives reflect truth, but they both can be distorted, Powell acknowledged.

"We should not ignore the distilled wisdom of Christian teachers and statements of faith through the years," he stressed. "On the other hand, the individual may have insights into the meaning of Scripture contrary to the church."

Bill Pinson, retired executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas and director of the Texas Baptist Heritage Center, pointed to the “perennial struggle” between the two perspectives.

“There has always been a tension between the individual and the group or the community in almost every area of human thought,” Pinson said. “Baptists have not been immune to this struggle but have generally emphasized the individual.

“This comes from our careful study of the Bible that has resulted in 'distinctives' such as soul competency and the priesthood of all believers. However, this does not mean that Baptists have been without an emphasis on community and relationships under the Lordship of Christ.”

Pinson cited Baptist historian Walter Shurden, author of “The Baptist Identity: Four Fragile Freedoms,” who wrote: “Individualism is far from the total picture for Baptists. For the most part, however, Baptists never crouch in a defensive position when the charge of individualism is hurled at them. With all its inherent weaknesses, individualism is to a great degree a Baptist badge of honor.”

And Pinson added that although Baptists have been aware that hyper-individualism could lead to subjectivism–even to the extent of anarchy–they have always believed that some sort of collectivism under the rubric of community is also dangerous, perhaps even more so.

That danger lies in trading away freedom, he explained.

“Texas Baptists are big on individual autonomy,” noted Leon McBeth, retired professor of church history at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth and author of Texas Baptists' 150-year history.

“But in the whole Baptist family, there are certain bedrock principles we have adhered to and should adhere to,” he added. “If a person gets so set on some issue outside the norm of Baptist faith and practice, I don't know how he calls himself a Baptist.”

A root doctrine of the priesthood of the believer/believers is soul freedom, McBeth said. “We're free under the lordship of Jesus Christ, but we're not free outside of that lordship,” he explained.

“The lordship of Jesus Christ and the text of the Bible properly interpreted–these are our guidelines.”

Pinson picked up on that theme.

“Does that mean everyone has the right to interpret the Bible for himself or herself? Yes,” he said. “Is every interpretation of the Bible right? No, because there are many different interpretations of various passages and issues, and thus not all can be right.

“But does anyone or any group have the right to dictate to another what is the right interpretation? Baptists have replied, 'no.' But they have also said 'yes' to the responsibility of each believer-priest to submit interpretations to other believer-priests for insights, suggestions and challenges.”

Powell noted that if an extreme interpretation of priesthood of the believers had been followed, Baptists would not exist. Baptists' forebears had the courage to contradict majority views of Reformed, Anglican and Congregational churches.

“True Baptists will take their stand and face the consequences when they are compelled by the Scriptures,” he said.

Pinson noted that “no Baptist distinctive really stands alone. To pick one or two without relating them to others is problematic.”

Baptist historian Bill Leonard, a native Texan and now dean of Wake Forest University's Divinity School in North Carolina, has for years spoken of the priesthood of all believers–emphasizing both individual privilege and responsibility to the community of faith.

“The bottom line is this: Every Baptist can exercise his/her priestliness, but that does not mean the rest of the Baptist community can't throw them out,” Leonard said.

“Priestly dissenters shouldn't whine when they get rejected by the community. Indeed, they should expect it.”

Posted: 10/15/04

Sloan: Balance demands both

Thinking theologically, Baptists need to affirm both the priesthood of the believer and the priesthood of believers, Baylor President Robert Sloan said.

Citing the New Testament book of 1 Peter, he observed: “The church is a 'body of priests,' and that means that I, both as a member of a regenerate congregation and as an individual, need no other priest than Jesus Christ. The church does not need another mediator than Jesus Christ. There is no teaching authority beyond us that tells us how we must observe Scriptures.”

A proper understanding of the priesthood of the believer/believers involves balance, Sloan said.

“On the one hand, every individual has the freedom to interpret the Scriptures,” he added. “And what do we need to do that? We need the guidance of the Spirit, the full witness of Scripture and, of course, we are aided by the body of Christ, the church.

“As an individual, I do interpret the Scriptures, but the corrective to that is that I must not become eccentric. … If you believe the Scriptures are inspired, you must handle them with care and not interpret them eccentrically. You have the right to interpret Scripture, but that does not mean you are correct. There are many interpretations of Scripture you must reject.”

To illustrate, Sloan cited cult leader David Koresh and also the Jehovah's Witnesses. “They have freedom and the right to interpret the Scriptures, but they're wrong,” he said. “That's why we need each other–the fellowship of the church–and history of theology to help us.”

Sloan affirmed the power of a “great prophetic voice,” such as the prophet Jeremiah, who speaks when the church goes wrong. As examples of times when such a voice is needed, he noted church-going people used the Bible to defend the Nazis in Germany and, earlier, Southern slaveholders.

“The individual prophetic voice is a corrective witness,” he said. “But sometimes you get an individual voice that is just plain crazy. So, the tradition can be wrong and needs the corrective voice of a great prophetic speaker, but the speaker can be wrong and needs the correction of the church.”

Posted: 10/15/04

Organizers hope BGCT session
will be a family celebration

By Ferrell Foster

Texas Baptist Communications

SAN ANTONIO–The Texas Baptist family looks different these days, and they're gathering Nov. 8-9 to celebrate it.

The Baptist General Convention of Texas will hold its 119th annual session Nov. 8-9 at Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in downtown San Antonio. The theme will be “Celebrando la Familia de Dios–Celebrating the Family of God.”

“The 2004 convention is an effort to show that our Texas Baptist family is diverse and growing,” said Ken Hall, president of the convention and of Buckner Baptist Benevolences. “We are celebrating our family as a visible expression of what it means to be followers of Jesus.

“Our convention worship, business sessions, workshops and exhibits are geared to be positive and cutting-edge. We are unified in our desire to represent to all people that Texas Baptists are loving and generous.”

Churches are encouraged to bring as many messengers and members as possible, said Becky Bridges, director of the BGCT Communications Center. “We want everyone to come.”

Again this year, the annual meeting schedule includes time for workshops. Participants can choose from 60 workshops in English and 10 in Spanish.

“The workshops are invaluable training opportunities for all lay leaders and church staff,” Bridges said. “It is well worth your time just for these sessions. Everyone who comes will discover new missions ideas, connect with experts in their ministry field and find new ways to work with churches around the state.”

Regarding business, it still is uncertain exactly what messengers will be dealing with on one major front. The Executive Board of the convention will meet Oct. 26 to consider proposed constitution changes that would alter the BGCT's governance structure. If the board approves the plan, it will then be considered by messengers to the annual session.

Executive Director Charles Wade is proposing the size of the Executive Board be reduced and other coordinating boards, commissions and some committees be abolished.

Messengers also will be asked to affirm new strategic plan statements of mission, vision, values and priorities that will guide the work of the convention.

“We are praying for a transformation of our structure, governance and practice that is more inclusive and dynamic,” said Hall, who has been involved in shaping the proposals. “Our history is our foundation for an even brighter tomorrow.”

A $47.38 million 2005 budget will be considered, as well. It reflects a 3 percent increase over this year's spending plan. Of the total, $40.5 million would depend on giving through the BGCT Cooperative Program. The remainder would come from gifts to the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas Missions, endowment income, allocated funds, fees and other sources.

Messengers are expected to elect a new president at the meeting. Hall is eligible for a second term in that position, but he already has said he will not serve another term. Hall said he hopes his precedent-defying move will help the BGCT rotate its top leadership more rapidly and embrace greater diversity of leaders.

Albert Reyes, president of Baptist University of the Americas in San Antonio, is expected to be nominated as convention president. Reyes currently is first vice president of the convention.

Michael Bell, pastor of Greater St. Stephen First Baptist Church in Fort Worth, is to be nominated as first vice president. Stacy Conner, pastor of First Baptist Church in Muleshoe, is to be nominated as second vice president. No other nomination plans have been announced prior to the meeting.

The BGCT annual meeting begins Monday, but related events are planned for the weekend.

A concert featuring Salvador and Rachel Lampa will be held 7-9:30 p.m. on Nov. 6 in the convention center's Lila Cockrell Theater.

The Woman's Missionary Union of Texas and the Texas Baptist Men annual meetings begin at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 7. WMU will meet in the sanctuary of First Baptist Church in San Antonio, and TBM will gather at the Raddison Market Square Hotel.

At 7 p.m. on Nov. 7, the Hispanic Baptist Fellowship meeting begins at Harlandale Baptist Church. At 7:30 p.m. that same evening, the African American Fellowship meeting starts at Calvary Baptist Church.

Registration for the BGCT annual meeting will be 3-6 p.m. Sunday and beginning again at 8 a.m. Monday. The exhibit hall also will be open during those times.

Monday morning's schedule features workshops, with the opening general meeting beginning at 12:45 p.m. The president's address will be at 1:30 p.m.

Monday night will be the annual missions emphasis, and the executive director's address will be part of it.

This year's convention sermon will be delivered by Jerry Dailey, pastor of Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in San Antonio, at 11:40 a.m. Tuesday.

The convention will adjourn at 12:10 p.m. Tuesday.